Musicians and speech givers spend many hours rehearsing their pieces. In the past, this practice occurred in small acoustically isolated rehearsal areas which allowed the performer the opportunity to hear themselves clearly. In conventional rehearsal rooms, the rehearsal room is constructed of sound blocking materials to isolate the rehearsal area from the external sounds of the surrounding areas. Within the room, reverberations of the sounds generated by the performer are frequently absorbed by the room walls, floor and/or ceiling to prevent the reverberations of the performance from overwhelming the performer.
In contrast to a small rehearsal room, the reverberations of a performance hall or auditorium echo through the larger space of the performance hall creating a very different acoustical environment. A performance hall typically includes space dedicated to holding an audience while a conventional rehearsal room does not. It is the differences in the direction of the reverberations, sound intensity and time lag of the reverberations through the differing volumes of physical space which create the acoustical environment of a room. For the performer, the difference in the acoustical environments between a small rehearsal room and large performance hall can hinder performances.
Frequently the performer does not have access to the performance hall or may not have access for a sufficient amount of time to become accustomed to the acoustical environment of the performance hall. In conventional rehearsal rooms, the dimensions and construction materials of the room cannot be easily changed to alter the acoustical environment to simulate a performance environment.
With the advent of electronics, electroacoustic systems using microphones, speakers and other electronic devices can enhance the acoustical environment of large performance halls to solve acoustical problems, such as inadequate reverberation time or level, insufficient lateral energy or excessive time delay, stemming from the basic problems of speaker placement, microphone placement, and acoustic feedback in the large hall. Unfortunately, many of these systems are expensive, use complex designs that are not easily changed or incorporated in small rehearsal rooms and may require a dedicated operator to use.
In addition, these systems are not readily adaptable to placement in a small physical area such as a rehearsal or practice room because they are not designed to compensate for the strong sound coloration and acoustic feedback in a small enclosed space. In a small enclosed space, sound waves bounce off the walls and swirl back on themselves even as new sound waves are produced. It is difficult to isolate and capture the desired sound waves from the reverberating waves in a small enclosed space.
Home entertainment systems which try to simulate the listening environment of a larger auditorium in a home encounter the same problems of sound coloration and acoustic feedback as well as the problem of distinguishable echoes emanating from individual speakers as the listener moves around the room.
A rehearsal room which provides an acoustically isolated practice area and is readily adaptable to simulate a variety of acoustical environments during a performance would be greatly appreciated.